Thoughts on this E9 from BAT

[posix]

No Reserve: 1973 BMW 3.0CS 4-Speed

Bid for the chance to own a No Reserve: 1973 BMW 3.0CS 4-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #33,782.

bringatrailer.com

I potentially have a chance at getting this, the top bidder dropped out. It’s a bit above my happy number so I’m fine waiting longer to find an e9 that’s either in better condition or cheaper for the Sameish condition.

My thoughts:
Lots of body work that needs to happen, but I have a friend that has done my 2002s and I’ve been happy and he’s relatively cheap.

not a big fan of the triple webers, not really needed for the engine. Maybe if I put a 3.5L into it it would be helpful.

interior seems mostly original which is good

Not sure what I think about the coupe king alloys...

 

[dave v. in nc]

Go the the header "cars"...."73 cs on BAT"...and you will see several comments, not really any good ones...Auction says sold..did you buy it?

 

[posix]

I was the 2nd highest bidder. The highest bidder is dropping out. So I have the opportunity to buy it

 

[DWMBMW]

I like the triple webers and think they enhance the driving experience of an E9.

I believe this car has been driven/enjoyed and could remain a fun DD as is for awhile.

W&N has also made it easier to just by new panels to cut down on the hours and $ of bodywork.

Triple Weber Rebuild

Yes Korman sells the modified Tstat housing for their manifold. You can get a different fuel inlet or modify the existing one. It's Weber part number 10536.215...

e9coupe.com

 

[Gransin]

If $28k is still the price, I'd save up another $10-15k and buy one with less rust.
As soon as you start touching that coupe, things will snowball and $10-15k wont get you far.

 

[posix]

Snowball in terms of bodywork?

 

[sandhu]

Snowball in terms of bodywork?

Snowball in terms of rust and $$$$$$$

 

[posix]

for body work, I have a friend that’s able to do it so I’m not super worried about that cost.

 

[Gransin]

Snowball in terms of bodywork?

I think the bodywork will be more involved than one might think at first glance, but who can say for sure.
The coupe is undoubtedly more complex to do bodywork on, if compared to a 2002. This all adds up in the end, and when you've reached the end of bodywork and paint, it's quite common to realize that most of the other bits and pieces also need tidying up/be replaced and there you have it.
But don't let me stop you, I walked this way with my coupe and I wouldn't have let anybody talk me out of it

 

[adawil2002]

These cars are the 1,000 piece puzzle compared to the 2002 being the 200 piece puzzle.

If you have the resources and money to properly abate the rust & restore. Go for it! You will be much further ahead in the end knowing you have saved, rebuilt a Coupe. In the overall scheme $28K is good, will be spending close to if not more for parts & paint.

Advise reading & following a few of the E9 Project & Restoration threads. If & when you buy the Coupe, the knowledge base here will advise & guide you through the process with sage advice & resources. No need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to these cars.

Best of luck

 

[rsporsche]

this is going to be a huge amount of rust remediation. think of an iceberg - you see 20 % of it, the remaining 80% is underwater. the amount of hidden rust is going to be a lot more. reach out to m5bb, his coupe looked reasonable on the surface and it was a tremendous amount of rust work and rotisserie restoration. a ton of money spent. its now a really beautiful coupe, but more work than you can imagine. its not for the faint of heart ... and it is NOT inexpensive. as adawil2002 has mentioned, when you are through, you know what you have and you have saved a coupe.

 

[jmackro]

this is going to be a huge amount of rust remediation. think of an iceberg - you see 20 % of it, the remaining 80% is underwater. the amount of hidden rust is going to be a lot more. reach out to .....

posix: The guy you should reach out to is the top bidder - he had enough sellers' remorse to forfeit his deposit. It would be interesting to learn what else he found out about the car.

We understand that you have a friend who can do the bodywork inexpensively. Still, this car is going to require a fair amount of body work and I can see mechanical and cosmetic things that will also require attention. The interior wood has clearly gotten wet and that takes time and money (mostly time) to address. As you yourself noted, the triple sidedraft Webers may look and sound cool, but won't add to drivability. It's too bad the PO didn't invest that money on a 5-speed conversion instead.

At the end of the day, maybe this wasn't the right coupe for the top bidder, but would be OK for you. Only you can decide that. Just don't let the availability of inexpensive bodywork cloud your vision. Have your bodyman friend review ALL the BaT pictures and give you a ballpark estimate before pulling the trigger.

 

[posix]

posix: The guy you should reach out to is the top bidder - he had enough sellers' remorse to forfeit his deposit. It would be interesting to learn what else he found out about the car.

We understand that you have a friend who can do the bodywork inexpensively. Still, this car is going to require a fair amount of body work and I can see mechanical and cosmetic things that will also require attention. The interior wood has clearly gotten wet and that takes time and money (mostly time) to address. As you yourself noted, the triple sidedraft Webers may look and sound cool, but won't add to drivability. It's too bad the PO didn't invest that money on a 5-speed conversion instead.

At the end of the day, maybe this wasn't the right coupe for the top bidder, but would be OK for you. Only you can decide that. Just don't let the availability of inexpensive bodywork cloud your vision. Have your bodyman friend review ALL the BaT pictures and give you a ballpark estimate before pulling the trigger.

great points here. The top bidder immediately withdrew after the end of the auction so I’m not sure if it’s because of the car...

He did see the photos on BaT and he did give a quote (not including the wood work). I made sure to tell him there’s a lot of rust.

I’m planning to do a 5 speed conversion and maybe an engine swap to a 3.5L

 

[posix]

this is going to be a huge amount of rust remediation. think of an iceberg - you see 20 % of it, the remaining 80% is underwater. the amount of hidden rust is going to be a lot more. reach out to m5bb, his coupe looked reasonable on the surface and it was a tremendous amount of rust work and rotisserie restoration. a ton of money spent. its now a really beautiful coupe, but more work than you can imagine. its not for the faint of heart ... and it is NOT inexpensive. as adawil2002 has mentioned, when you are through, you know what you have and you have saved a coupe.

Understood. I want to invest more money into making the car look good. I just won’t want to over spend.

 

[sfdon]

I wouldn’t touch that car.
not for 10k.
its rotten.

 

[teahead]

I think it's a decent car at $18k.

my old CSi I sold for $28k (not on BAT) and had a lot less rust. Did I mention it was a CSi with sunroof and AC?

I'd keep looking. Color means nothing when you gotta redo pretty much everything, you can paint it whatever you like then.

 

[dave v. in nc]

You don't want to wear a mask, fine...don't say we didn't warn you. Just don't get any of that rust on me if you sneeze, and try to park six feet away from my coupe, please. Only kidding. Sounds like a done deal, if you are also looking for a set of seals for a coupe...We wish you the best, and will help in any way that we can. Welcome to the fever.

 

[posix]

You don't want to wear a mask, fine...don't say we didn't warn you. Just don't get any of that rust on me if you sneeze, and try to park six feet away from my coupe, please. Only kidding. Sounds like a done deal, if you are also looking for a set of seals for a coupe...We wish you the best, and will help in any way that we can. Welcome to the fever.

Not a done deal yet

 

[Jahan]

Who bought BAT Coupe?

 

[posix]

Who bought BAT Coupe?

not sure... im waiting to hear from the buyer